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CHILLY STOMACH by Jeannette Caines

CHILLY STOMACH

By

Pub Date: May 1st, 1986
Publisher: Harper & Row

When Sandy's Uncle Jim tickles and kisses her, she gets what she calls a chilly stomach--she wants to avoid him, but doesn't know how. In this simple picture-book treatment of a common trouble, Sandy easily differentiates between Uncle Jim's unwelcome attention and the more appropriate affection of her parents, which makes her feel ""nice and happy and cuddly."" Her friend Jill urges Sandy to tell her parents; Sandy is reluctant, lest they be angry or not believe her, and the book stops as she is trying to decide what to do. This leaves the way open for good discussion, which will be aided by the story's well-chosen details: Jill, too, has an Uncle, loving and trustworthy; the straightforwardly realistic illustrations accentuate the open friendliness in both families, Sandy's distress, and the fact that her oblivious parents are too busy to notice what's going on. A healthy, non-threatening approach to the difficult problem of child molesting.